entire lives ahead of them. birthdays, graduations, weddings. kids of their own.

>> emotional president verbalizing that so many parents have been thinking since the news broke. good saturday afternoon. i'm craig melvin. you are watching the continuing coverage of the elementary school shootings in newtown, connecticut. we are hearing from some of the people who were closest to the gunman. >> shocked. nothing -- you said to my husband did you ever think? this blows me away. my heart goes to the out parents lost the kids. i lost some sons. i know what they are dealing with. >> that was the gunman's tlaunt from illinois earlier today. there are new details this hour on the massacre in that school in newtown, connecticut. 20 children and six adults were killed in the lone gunman took his life as well. msnbc's chris jansing is in newtown. we have been waiting for a briefing by state police this afternoon. at this point any word on when that might happen?

>> reporter: well, we just heard from a local police officer on the scene that it may still happen this afternoon. whether it will or not is very difficult to say. obviously this has been a day when the community woke up. realizing that this was real, realizing that there were going to be funerals to plan. in one church along here the catholic church, the monsignor told me this morning with tears in his eyes, he expects to bury six parisher ins including a little girl that was to play an angel in the -- at the christmas eve mass. we are also learning more and did this morning at a news conference about the shooter. and there's very good evidence, investigators say, they have found both at his mother's house and the school that will give them something some indication how this all came together. the why remains a mystery. why would anyone go into a classroom of little children? there are releases of some

record things that indicate that the whole thing only took a matter of minutes. it may volume taken two minutes to kill 20 little kids in a kindergarten classroom. six adults and for the gunman to turn the gun on himself. nbc news has confirmed that adam lanza did try to buy a gun three days before this terrible massacre. but he was refused and instead as we have been reporting all along, he used guns that belonged to his mother. now, his aunt who was interviewed by a local tv station in north carolina says that the mother was something of a survivalist. she feared economic collapse and two sources have told nbc news that he was at least for a time home schooled. this is someone whose description fits so closely to other shooters that we have heard about in previous mass shootings. that he was a loner. many people thought he was intelligent and his brother told

investigators yesterday that he had a history of mental problems. we are still waiting for a key piece of information. police told us this morning that they would release an official list of the victims and, of course, craig, that has yet to happen. >> chris jansing on the ground. we should note we also have a photograph that we got a short time ago of adam lanza's mother. here is that photograph. this is lanza's mother, nancy. this is a photograph from facebook. and just a short while ago we also heard from his aunt, his aunt marcia lanza, about the family and this tragedy. let's listen to what she had to s say. okay. we will get that in just a little bit. chris jansing, thank you so much from newtown, connecticut. chris will be back here at 6:00 eastern to anchor special live coverage. our continuing coverage of the elementary school tragedy. i want to bring in investigator reporter jonathan dienst who has

been following the story since the beginning and learning new details about the gunman and events that may have led to the shootings. what have we learned this afternoon so far? >> we are getting clarity about, you know, initial ticktock and now questions whether the mom who you saw the photo a moment ago, whether she had any connection of the school, aunt out in illinois, questioned. she had disputes with the school board and -- school district and that's why she took her son out and did some home schooling as the claim from that aunt in the distance. unclear if she ever worked at that school as was initially released or told to us by certain law enforcement officials and then the superintendent even this morning said she may have been some sort of substitute teacher and any connections to the school now dubious questionable, waiting to hear from school officials if there was any connection because that seemed to be the one explainer as to why if you killed your mom at the house why then would you go to that school and target those children? there were early reports perhaps

there was a kindergarten class her mom had been -- his mom had been connected to but that turns out not -- apparently now not to be the case. >> what can you tell us about these reports of some sort of altercation that he may have had, may have had at the school the day before? >> pete williams, justin correspondent, first with that and said they were looking into whether there was an altercation a couple of day prirs. i do not have that. sources up here that i have been speaking with say it is news to them. that they are exploring every opportunity of that possibility. and also, the possibility that whether the suspect went to any gun stores in the area and that's why police and atf agents are traveling the area to see if most of the guns used, there are three, perhaps four guns in all, two handguns in the school. we saw from our chopper. one rifle in the trunk of the car. perhaps there was yet another rifle in the school for a three to four guns total at the shooting scene and that the suspect used those handguns and

weapons to fire up those children from very close range. >> were all of the guns registered to his mother? >> i don't know if all of them. we are told they were family guns. that's what we are hearing from law enforcement officials. and that some were believed belonged to the mom and were in that house and that after he hot the mom in that house, drove in the family car to the school and where he carried out the shooting from there. why the delay in identifying the mom in that house? because she was shot point blank in the face and she was unidentifiable for? time. they didn't know, again, with the initial reporting from the witnesses and at the school, did he go to the school to get his mom? where is the mom? is that her at the house? that's why there was some confusion in the initial reporting. the woman dead in the house unidentifiable at first because of the nature of the gunshot wounds. >> any high capacity magazine clips? >> unknown to me about the number of bullets. i have been trying to get that answer in terms of the number of clips, number of shots fired.

just heard chris jansing say it was all over in a matter of a minute two and all those children -- as we have seen from many of the stories, doesn't take that long to empty, reload, fire again. he was dressed in black. dressed in, you know, military-type outfit gear. as he bhent and stormed that school, shooting through the window or breaking the window next to the door to find his entry and get in there and get at those adults and those little children. >> thank you so much. i want to bring in clint van zandt, nbc news analyst, former fbi profiler. welcome back. we just heard from jonathan dienst there. clearly this is a man who had been planning this mass shooting. he had been organizing and he was wearing a vest and had a number of guns. and he was wearing all black, wearing what has, unfortunately, become the uniform of mass killers in this country. what can we make of all of the

planning and preparation? >> you know, there's such a dichotomy in this case. such contradictions. we are told first that the mother is a nice lady, early to mid 50s. maybe a school teacher. she likes to play dice games. she works in her garden. next thing we hear, she thinks the world is going to end. economic collapse. she's stocking up guns and ammunition. weapons that apparently her son used to kill her. then as far as the shooter, some people tell us well, he is a nice guy. he was a little strange but, you know, we kind of liked him. he kept to himself. have you relatives and friends step up and say boy, this guy is really strange. he had a lot of psychological, physical problems. we knew he was going to do something like that. then the confusion that we have talked about the last day and a half in the law enforcement investigation, you know, i like to believe as a former fbi agent, law enforcement is not confused. it is just pieces and parts of information float out and different people in the media and otherwise grabbing them and

run with them before they have been solidified by law enforcement. but what we do know about this shooter, just as you suggest, recently there seems to be this copycat. there seems to be this uniform of choice. i'm going to dress in black, almost like a -- like some type of warrior and ninja figure. maybe even emulating a figure that i have seen in some type of video game that i play, where i get points for killing people. but then these people act out and this terrible way and now we have seen it in aurora, colorado. we have seen it in portland, oregon. of course we saw it yesterday. >> the picture continues to emerge about zlan. according to "the new york daily news," people that knew him describe him as, quote, deeply disturbed, subject to outbursts and had a tortured mind. these were all direct quotes from the article but also brilliant. what are your thoughts on that as a former fbi profiler? >> you know somewhat, again, as

chris mentioned a few minutes ago, we have -- look at the comparison between brilliant person but a challenged individual. that's the same way we described the shooter in aurora, colorado. again, we cease these -- you know, and -- it's not just the brilliant. we have seen the far less than brilliant people become mass murderers. as far as school shoot rings concerned, this is a shooting at a school and not a scoot shooting. nonetheless we have more victim s except for vurng tech than we have ever seen before. he was able to construct this situation where he had some type of challenge with his mother, we are told he went to the school the day before. may have had some type of conflict there.

this wasn't just put together the day before the event. this is somebody that assembled the clothing, mask, weapons were in his house. but he had a game plan and there's always order and confusion even in this individual's apparently confused mind. >> clint, thank you so much for your insight as always, sir. we have some new information on the other big story we have been polling this afternoon. breaking news regarding the secretary of state hillary clinton and concussion that she is recovering from. nbc news chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell joining me now on the telephone with a little bit more. andrea, what can you tell me about how the secretary of state is doing right now? >> reporter: we are told she is doing well. she will stay home all week which means also she will not be testifying as previously scheduled on thursday before the senate and house on that

controversial investigation about to be reported to congress on what went wrong in benghazi. that's one big thing. she is -- she had a concussion, we are told. she fainted after being dehydrated from a result of that stomach flu we were told about last monday when unexpectedly secretary clinton postponed a trip to places in the region for suggestions on the syrian opposition. in her place, veteran diplomat deputy secretary william burns went in hjertstedt. she's just come back from a rip during which she and head of policy planning and other top officials all got sick. so that was hornlgly postponed from monday to tuesday. then clear she was not going to be well enough in turn they -- the trip would be taken instead by her deputy. it is not clear when she actually fell and how long she has been suffering from the

concussion. it is very, very difficult to get information on her actual health because they are being very, very privilege at about it. >> butter with to understand that she's at home recovering right now. andrea mitchell, thank you so much. if there is an update do come back. up next, we will bring you more on the latest in the investigation into the horrific shooting in connecticut that's left 28 people dead including the gunman. more on him and a possible motivation perhaps when we return.

one of the ladies, her phone went off because it was time to take her boy to a cub scout meeting. and she realized, you know, i can't take him now.

those kind of moments are really, really hard on these parents. it is awful. excuse me. i mean -- these are 20 people that a week for christmas that just lost their joy. how do you -- how do you live with that? >> that was last night before the vigil that drew thousands to that small town. right now i would like to bring in california congressman adam schiff. congressman, thank you for being with me this afternoon. >> you bet. >> you have supported a renewal of the assault weapons ban. ban expired back in 2004. i believe. why do you think it has been so hard to see any movement on the issue? >> well, it has been very hard because the mar is so powerful. and for a lot of members that have come from very strong gun rights districts or states, it is enormously difficult to take on the nra. they put a lot of money in

against you. and so it is -- it is a challenge but it is going to have to be done. we just can't keep going through tragedy after tragedy like this. it has got to stop. it is going to require a lot of things. it will require a sensible gun safety and gun control measures and it is going to require much more elaborate mental health planning and systems. it is going to require a better school safety. and even beyond gun control, it is going to require, i think, a real serious conversation about whether we immediate to have so many guns. assault weapons ban and the closing of the gun show loopholes and other prohibitions on extended ammunition clips, those will help. still if the facts appear as they are, these weapons were mostly handguns legally owned by mother in this case. it ought to prompt a conversation about whether these guns in our homes really make us more safe. and even if they provide additional protection for the individual gun owner, gun owners

need to realize they can be used not only to kill them but their family members and to kill 20 kids down the street. >> there are roughly 300 million guns in the country according to most estimates i have seen and read. we talked about it after the congresswoman was shot. we talked about it after aurora and talked about it after the sikh temple shooting in wisconsin as well earlier this year. we are talking about it now. do you think in your heart of hearts that this is actually going to be the tipping point? >> well, i think it will be a tipping point for the congress. and for the country to enact. i hope some responsible gun control measures. whether it will be the broader tipping point we probably immediate to really question whether we need so many guns in our homes and around the country, whether we need these thousands and thousands of gun related deaths every year, that's a bigger question. i certainly hope so. this is an epidemic of violence.

not just the mass killings like the horrific one yesterday. but so much gun violence in our neighborhoods and so many of our youth being cut down. we really immediate to grasp this problem with both hands and do something about it. i had the reaction yesterday, i know millions of parents did around the country. when i -- went to pick up my son at the bus stop, i -- grabbed him and hugged him. i didn't tell him why. but i know millions of parents did that and we all want our kids to grow up and in safety and outlive us. for 20 kids, their parents aren't going to know what their children might have become. and -- have that wonderful life. >> congressman adam schiff from california. congressman, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> right now i would like to get insight from lynn sweet, washington bureau chief of the "chicago sun-times." ed o'keefe, reporter for "the washington post." good afternoon to both of you. lynn, president obama, yesterday calling for, quote, meaningful action. the president and the president

chooses his words very carefully. what do you think he means by meaningful action? >> well, this is the first time the -- he said he would do something in the wake of these horrible tragedies. so i think he put down a pledge to only -- only way to take sit he's going the look for some kind of a change in gun law. now we know that he -- i don't want to get lawyeresque on you and say, you know, but when you say meaningful action we can take a common sense plain reading of it that obama who has been very reluctant to do anything on the gun control issue is ready to do something. >> what are you hearing from lawmakers in d.c.? specifically perhaps lawmakers from the right. is there a -- different mood there at this point? >> well, we have heard the comments that we have heard after all of these other mass shoot things year which is we

have to be careful about rushing to judgment. we have to be careful about necessarily enacting new gun laws. perhaps this is a broader issue about mental health or issues with the family. i spoke yesterday with kathy mcmorris rogers. fourth ranking house republican. the only woman in congressional republican leadership and we do have to look at this and congress can hold hearings and perhaps try to explore concern was mental health. as the congressman was talking i was looking it up and i count four pieces of legislation that would do something regarding gun control that we are -- in -- introduced during this 112th congress which is set to expire in the next two weeks. there was one that would outlaw large capacity ammunition magazines. it went nowhere in the senate. banning firearms within 1,000 feet of officials. that went nowhere and introduced by a republican. perennial effort to close the gun show loophole which would allow gun show operators to

register with the federal government. that went nowhere once again. a bill to boost federal authority over state background checks. that wallowed in committee. there have always been proposals put forth. there was a renewed call to restore the assault weapons ban from california and other urban state lawmakers. that went nowhere. the president has taunt in the coming weeks. time to reset his legislative priorities and one might expect he would use that as an opportunity. >> i want to say i have been covering since -- since at least 1999. maybe 1998. the gun show loophole. just think even that one thing, a lot of gnsz get sold lou the gun shows. >> here is the thing. >> even that one thing, congress has not acted on, then i thought, well, with column line in the '90s for sure, so now -- no, actually i would not -- one of the things that the foes of gun control count on, get emotional and similar pa

thetdic. you move on to the next thing. >> this feeling subsides p.m. but here is the thing. you hear some of those things. you know, restricting large capacity magazines and restricting semiautomatic weapons from being around a certain distance of lawmakers. those are things that sound obvious. they sound like no brainers. they sound -- it sounds fairly comm commonsensical. >> it is an oversimplification. we have seen democrats, partly because of pressure from the nra and partly because they are democrats that stand by the second amendment. they go out and hunt on saturday and vote for a democrat on tuesday. they just simply believe that, you know, guns are something they should be allowed to have. the party itself has backed away from this issue and has not discussed it as much. certainly there are lawmakers. adam schiff, dianne feinstein, that always push for better gun control laws. but i think overall the pear has

gambled in recent years and the president is one of them, this is an issue not easy political for them, potential to draw away independent voters and calculated not pushing for sxlegs not talking about it, is something they should do. >> it has been a losing issue for democrats. >> politically, yes. >> lynn, twine switch gears quickly while i have you. "the sun times" reporting that president obama has chosen john kerry to become the next secretary of state. any idea at this point when we might get an official announcement? >> i think that was a scoop by my colleague michael snead. i think the obama white house wants to get a little more handle on fiscal cliff matters before they go ahead and start rolling out a lot of the cabinet changes. one thing i have heard is that when they do the state department, then want to do a whole national security package. the defense and cia and do that as a mass announcement. >> do appreciate both of you.

thank you. >> take care. >> thank you. this is, unfortunately, not the first mass shooting this year. a sad review of what has become a michael jacksonal crisis next. coming up, philadelphia mayor michael nutler join me. you will want to hear his perspective on guns in america. many people are struggling with issues related to mental health. by earning a degree in the field of counseling or psychology from capella university, you'll have the knowledge to make a difference in the lives of others. let's get started at capella.edu. challenge that with new olay facial hair removal duo. a two-step process that removes even coarse, stubborn facial hair gently. plenty of gain, without all that pain... with olay. to the best vacation sp(all) the gulf! without all that pain... it doesn't matter which of our great states folks visit. mississippi,

alabama, louisiana or florida, they're gonna love it. shaul, your alabama hospitality is incredible. thanks, karen. love your mississippi outdoors. i vote for your florida beaches, dawn. bill, this louisiana seafood is delicious. we're having such a great year on the gulf, we've decided to put aside our rivalry. now is the perfect time to visit anyone of our states. the beaches and waters couldn't be more beautiful. take a boat ride, go fishing or just lay in the sun. we've got coastline to explore and wildlife to photograph. and there's world class dining with our world famous seafood. so for a great vacation this year, come to the gulf. its all fabulous but i give florida the edge. right after mississippi. you mean alabama. say louisiana or there's no dessert. this invitation is brought to you by bp and all of us who call the gulf home. for thos...this...ions of doing this... ...and this, dancing in their heads... ...we have these.

home depot gift cards. give the gift of doing, in-store or online. c'mon, michael! get in the game! [ male announcer ] don't have the hops for hoops with your buddies? lost your appetite for romance? and your mood is on its way down. you might not just be getting older. you might have a treatable condition called low testosterone or low t. millions of men, forty-five or older, may have low t. so talk to your doctor about low t. hey, michael! [ male announcer ] and step out of the shadows. hi! how are you? [ male announcer ] learn more at isitlowt.com. [ laughs ] hey! can i still ship a gift in time for christmas? yeah, sure you can. great. where's your gift? uh... whew. [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. ship fedex express by december 22nd for christmas delivery. pretty sweet, huh? cute. but don't you have any apps on your phone that can make your life easier? who do you think i am, quicken loans?

at quicken loans, we'll provide you with myql mobile. this amazingly useful app allows you to take pictures of your mortgage documents using an iphone or android smart phone... so you can easily send them to us. one more way quicken loans is engineered to amaze. ooh, la-la! it is heartheartbreaking, speechless. to have something happen around here especially. it is always going to stay in this town. small town. everybody is going to keep tonight their head, back of their head, even the young ones, they will be afraid to step in school now. >> i think that's something -- something like this will just -- it is so tragic, it will us all stronger and more close knit than we are. >> right now there's a news conference in newtown, connecticut.

we are expecting to get the latest the investigation. let's listen in. >> first select woman of the town of newtown, pat. >> good afternoon, everyone. i have comments on the behe-- bf of the school officials. newtown suffered a hoern does tragedy. a harm that has broken our hearts. our wound is deep because we are a close knit community. we truly care for each other. we are coming together with love and support for those families who have suffered this terrible loss. we are a strong and caring place. we will put our arms around those families and around each other. we will find a way to heal so that all of our residents, young and old, will again find peace. i ask that you help us in this

healing process. please treat our community with kindness. please know that we have suffered a terrible loss and we need your respect on this healing journey. i turn to you as parents, as siblings, as caring people, to know that your words and your actions can help us on this healing journey or you can hinder us. i want to take a moment to defend tall support we received from the governor's office, from the state police, from many clinicians and clergy, from the outreach across the nation and across the world. i think we are all touched by the magnitude of this tragedy. i thank you very much for listening to my message. my name is spelled l-l-o-d-r-a.

i am the first select man of this community. my first name is patricia. >> thanks very much. >> the second gentleman here today, his team has been working very, very hard in this process with the identification and examination, i would like to introduce to you the state chief medical examiner dr. h. wayne garber. >> thank you. first of all, on behalf of my wife and my sons, on behalf of my other family, our people at the office chief medical examiner, we wish to extend our deepest sympathies to the families and everyone else who has been so hurt by this event. our thoughts and our prayers are with you. the office of chief medical

examiner got here -- chief medical examiner, got here a couple of hours after the building was secured. we were here until approximately welfare: 12:30 last night. we thank the services that built us a temporary facility in the parking lot and we took identification photographs and did preliminary investigation on all victims and had everybody transported back to farming ton by about 1:00 in the morning. our entire staff turned out, started the postmortem examinations this morning. we completed the children by about 1:30. and i believe everybody, except the assailant, and his mother, will be finished tonight.

i will do those tomorrow morning. lieutenant vance and staff have a list of the names and the dates of births. anything else on there? >> no, sir. >> no. no. and that will be distributed. hope you have enough copies. everybo it was caused by gunshot wounds. obviously the manner of death on all of these cases has been classified as homicide. >> how many medical examiners were there? >> i have four doctors and -- i think all ten of my technicians,

full timers and part timers, were there. one student from quinnipiac university. this was her first day. that was kind of interesting. and -- the majority of our investigative staff were working on this at some point. whether they were with us last might or on the job today. i think a lot of our clerical or what they call processing techs that did the paperwork, were there. they are on the second floor. i didn't get up there today. >> the nature of your job, you deal with horrible things at times. was this a bit different than anything you dealt with before, sir? >> did everybody hear the question? >> no. >> given with what i deal with all the time, was this one over the top? i have been at this for a third

of a century. and it is -- my sensibilities may not the average man but this probably is the worst i have seen or the worst that i know of any of my colleagues having seen. that makes me proud and grateful to our staff who -- to a man have just behaved most professionally and strongly. i hope they and i hope the people of newtown don't have -- >> can you tell which were the

handgun, the rifle of the shooting victim? from this incident? >> it is a good thing there is not prosecution because then i couldn't answer that. all of the wounds that i know of at this point were caused by the long weapon. >> what caliber was it? >> the question was what caliber were these bullets. i know -- i probably know more about firearms than most pathologists but if i say it in court they yell at me and don't mick me answer. i will let the police deal with that for you. >> doctor, would you -- the wounds, were they at close range? were the children shot from across the room? >> i only did seven of the autopsies. the victims i had ranged from 3 to 11 wounds in the face and three of them with close-range shooting. but that's -- you know, that's a sample. i really don't have detailed

information on the rest of the injuries. >> but you said it was the long rifle that was used? >> yes. >> i thought the long rifle was discovered in the car. >> a followup. how many bullet casings did you find in the autopsy? >> oh. i'm lucky i can tell you how many i found. i don't know. there were lots of them. okay. this type of weapon is not -- the bullets are designed in such a fashion the energy -- this is very clinical. i shouldn't be saying this but the energy is deposited in the tiss tissue. >> did the victims die quickly? can you tell that? >> it is always a difficult question and obviously i don't have -- i don't have detailed

information on all of them but this is a very devastating set of injuries. to the best of my ability to answer that question which is always less than perfect, if so, not for very long. >> most of the injuries -- >> all the ones -- i believe so, yes. >> what -- >> we did not bring the bodies and the families into contact. we took pictures of them. of their facial features. we have -- it is easier on the families when you do that. there is -- a time and a place for up close and personal in the grieving process. but to accomplish this, we felt

it would be best to do it this way and you can sort of -- you can control a situation depending on your photographer. i have very good photographers. but -- >> do you know if there is a difference between the time of the death coming from the house and bodies recovered in the school? >> no, i don't. sorry, i don't. >> how young was the youngest victim, doctor? how old was the oldest victim? >> y'all are going to have to look at the spread sheet when bee pass it out. sorry. >> the ones you dealt with. >> everybody i dealt with -- i believe they are all first graders. >> did the gunman kill himself yet? >> no. i don't know yet. i will examine him tomorrow morning. i don't think so. >> can we discuss the injuries? >> i have not seen her yet. >> all one location, one

classroom? >> they will deal with that. paul and company. lieutenant vance will handle that one. >> we discussed this briefly with the staff before i came here. there was -- i believe everybody was hit more than once. >> was there my evidence -- any bruises? >> from the nature of the shooting was there my sense that -- precision? was it spread randomly? >> both. it is a very difficult question to answer. yeah. it is really -- we think after the thousands of people i have seen shot i could answer that

question but it is -- if i attempted to answer it in court there would be an objection and they would win. >> can you describe -- seven personally. what were they wearing? can you describe what they were wearing. >> cute kids stuff. mine, they are first graders. they were wearing cute kids stuff. you know. the kind of stuff you would send your kids or your grandkids out the door to first grade in. >> doctor, can you discuss the fatal injuries -- >> similar to those of the children. >> doctor, the children that you autopsied, where in the body were those wounds? >> all over. all over. >> how about the mother? >> i have not examined her yet. that will be tomorrow morning. >> running away when this

happened? >> i will let the guys at the scene -- address that issue. okay. obviously i was at the scene. obviously i am very experienced in that but there are people, number one professionals in that, i will let them answer that. >> doctor, you said the bodies that you examined, seven, three to 11 shots? >> that's just the ones that i did. >> yeah. >> you examined. >> i think -- i think the -- yeah. i think the guys who did the crime scene will be able to tell you something about how many cartridges were found. >> is there a call how you -- order the autopsies? mother and -- >> our goal -- our goal was to get the kids out and available to the funeral directors first. just for -- well -- obvious reasons.

>> how many boys and how many girls? >> i don't know. >> you said before -- 30% of your career, were you emotional at any time? where you had to fight back tears? >> not yet. okay. but -- yeah, there have been times in my career when for reasons i don't appreciate in the locker room and sit down and cry. and i think if you -- if you -- if you don't have to do that, you shouldn't be in this business. for this one, not yet. notice i said yet. all right, folks. thank you very much. i hope you all put this in your calendar because -- in 31 years

and 26 as chief medical examiner, only the second press conference i have given. it is h, wayne carver. it is the ii. and that's why i don't use the h. because when asked my grandfather, he said fine but as long as you never call him harold. >> you said that -- did they set up a tent in the parking lot? >> it wasn't a tent. it was this magnificent thing and it -- it is sectional and sticks together with velcro and then they stake it to the ground. and electricity and lights and heat appear. it is -- and it is a -- from the department of emergency management and i -- i think it came from the army. but i'm not sure. i think it is these things that they use in for setup field

hospitals very quickly. >> have all been the bodies been returned to the parents and mortuaries? >> i don't know. mortuaries have been called. and -- >> ready to be released? >> the paperwork has been done. as of 1:30 the paperwork was done. if the funeral -- the usual drill is the funeral homes call us and as soon as the paperwork is done we call them back. that process was completed for the children at 1:30 today. >> do you know -- >> our office in farmington. >> how did you transport them? >> we have our transport vehicles. >> how many vehicles? >> we have three vehicles. and -- a lot of guys that drive them. >> vans? >> they are -- actually -- one of the highlights of my administration is that we make them as non descript as

possible. they started out at 6. >> who removed -- can you tell us how the numbers worked? two classrooms of victims? victims in both of those classrooms? >> i don't have the differential between the two questions. >> majority in the front office? in the classroom? >> i'm going let the police handle that. they are the scene guy. >> you examined the bodies -- >> yes. >> did you do that personally? >> yes. just so happened it was my weekend. >> you said can't confirm the gunshot wounds assail ant itself. >> i just -- >> you don't know? >> i can't technically make that diagnosis until i examine him. okay. i mean -- i don't want to belabor the obvious. that's what everybody believes at this point. in terms of my fiduciary

responsibilities i vice president executed them yet. all right. thank you very much. >> thank you, doctor. >> as the doctor stated two additional postmortem examinations will be conducted top. we will additional information relative to the results of those examinations tomorrow. again, i would implore you as has been stated many times, we are asking for privacy for the families. as we stated before, the colonel has assign ad trooper and/or officers to each family to provide an open line of communication to them from us. and there will be -- they will be with the families at all times in an effort to instill that privacy. we have a list of the deceased. i would ask you to share. we will put it up on our website if you don't get one. troop earn grant will be out behind us and will be handing them out. take one per unit, if you will. again if you don't get one it

will be on the website within the hour. connecticut state police website. i will take any brief questions. again, understanding, please, that this still is an active case. we still are working, still actively pursuing leads. we are still anticipating to dough so the next 24 to 48 hours. sir. sir. >> was a rifle found in car? >> we didn't discuss the location of the weaponry at all. there has been a lot of speculation out there relative to the location of the weapons. and we would like to do that and we is -- we have additional calp and about -- so i'm going to hold that question until probably tomorrow morning, okay? >> yes, sir? >> what can you tell us? were all three of the weapons fired? and number two, what can you tell us about a previous altercation involving the gunman? >> okay, first question, i cannot answer. i'll have to get that information for you. i don't know. it's that simple. the second question is, there

has been talk and speculation about that. i've had conversations with the superintendent and the authorities here in town. there is no information about any confrontation. >> lieutenant, what was the mother doing with this sort of weaponry in her house, when she had a son that had some mental issues? >> that's certainly something that we need to look at and our investigators will peel back the onion and try to look at all of those questions in their investigation. >> that's pretty large firepower -- >> again, a lot to examine then. yes, ma'am? >> -- did that mean that an altercation did not happen or there is no information? >> there have been no reports fired of any altercation in the school involving the individual. >> can you tell us anything about this asperger's position and his mental state? >> i can just simply tell you that we have not officially identified him at this time and it's our policy, until positive identification and the postmortem is complete, we can't discuss any of the facts and

circumstances of the deceased. yes, sir? >> the woman who was found -- >> no, sir. speaking with the superintendent, there was no relation at all. one more question. one more question. [ inaudible ] >> well, it's very important to know and i would be neglectful not to mention this. the support from people not only in the community, but first of all, especially in the community of newtown, has been outstanding. the support outside of the community has been more than outstanding. the outpouring of assistance, the offer of help, as has been reported not only with newtown police involved, state police involved, other state agencies, other local police departments, other professionals. they're all here in support of the family. certainly, we're even attempting, and we will have and we have provided support for

first responders. the fire, police, ems, and we're going to continue to do that and we'll do that as long as necessary. i'm going to thank you for this. i'm going to simply say to you that this is the last briefing for today. we'll be here tomorrow morning. i'll give you any updates tomorrow morning. but there will be no more briefings or interviews. if anything were to break, breaking news, i would direct you to our website. we would post it on our website. but again, we don't anticipate anything as our investigators continue their work. >> motive? >> nothing more today, nothing more at all. >> what time the female was shot at the second -- >> we don't know, sir. i'm not going to read the names. i'll provide copies. trooper grant is back there with other copies. >> all right. lieutenant paul vance there with the connecticut state police, giving what is going to be the last briefing today on the investigation. a number of highlights there.

first of all, at this point, again, this is according to lieutenant vance, no connection between the shooter's mother and the school where the shooting happened. that's -- to this point, heretofo heretofore, we thought and we had reported that she perhaps worked there in some capacity as a teacher, maybe as a substitute teacher. but, again, according to lieutenant paul vance there, no connection between the shooter's mother and that school. we are working to find out a little bit more, obviously, about that. still a number of questions remain. we had been talking about a confrontation between the 20-year-old adam lanza, the gunman, a confrontation that might have happened at that school the day before. lieutenant vance there saying, they've got no information about any such confrontation as well. they are going to continue to conduct autopsies tonight on the gunman and his mother and should be able to give us a little bit more information about the self-inflicted gunshot wound

tomorrow. with regards to the children, we found out that all of them, all 02 children, had been shot multiple times. we also found out that the long rifle, that bushmaster 223, that the long rifle was the primary weapon. my colleague, michelle franzen was just there at the news conference. she's standing by. michelle, i understand that you have a list of the deceased. that correct? >> we do, yes. >> craig. lieutenant vance with the state police just handed out the list of the identified victims. of course, 26 victims and we've got the names that we're going to go ahead and list at this time. in alphabetical order, we've got charlotte baken, and she was a female and a child. most of these, we're told, were in the first grade, that were killed that day. we've got daniel barden. he was a boy. we've got rachel devino.

we've got olivia engle. josephine gay. we've got ana marquez green. dylan hochuli, and dawn hochsprung. matalin sue. katherine hubbard. chaste kowalski. jesse lewis. james matoli. grace mcdonnell. ann marie murphy. and it looks that she was one of the faculty or teachers in the building. another child, first grader, emily parker. jack pinto. noah pausener. carol previti. jessica ricos. lauren russo, who, again, is either a teacher or faculty in that school. mary sherlock, another faculty

or teacher or staffer, in that school. victoria soto, another member of faculty or staff. and benjamin wheeler, a boy in first grade. and allison wyatt, also in first grade. so it appears that most of these kids, what we are told by the medical examiner and confirmed by connecticut state police is that most of these children were in first grade, craig. we heard some pretty gruesome details during this press conference. some details about the gunshot wounds. the medical examiner telling us that he has been at this job for a third of a century and that he has never had to deal with anything like this before. as well as his staffers, he was convinced that this was also their worst experience and he tells us that one of his staffers, it was one of their first days or first week on the job and he was complimenting them and commending them for

such a wonderful job, but they, in this difficult job that they had to do. the medical examiner told us that with just the seven bodies that he conducted autopsies a on, he said that many of them had 3 to 11 bullet wounds on average, apiece, and that they were shot at close range, most of them. and he said that most of those children in that room sustained similar injuries. so a lot of difficult details that the public is now learning that, of course, family members have been going through this grieving process for the last more than 24 hours at this time. and before they spoke and before the medical examiner spoke, we had a member, a selectman of this community, just mention that the families are wanting to have their privacy. this community is certainly coming together and rallying around them and craig, i've been throughout the community here today, and that's exactly what

we're witnessing. we've seen an outpouring of emotion. people who are connected to this community, don't necessarily live in this community, but have ties to it. and they felt it was extremely important to come here today. whether just to show support, to talk with people, to leave flowers in the area. and other family members that have been touched by this tragedy directly. families are sort of keeping to themselves today, that we have spoken to, asking for that privacy today, saying that it is really sort of sinking in today and they want to be with family and think that that's the right place to be. >> michelle franzen, thank you so much. i know that as a mother, a little boy who is close to the age of many of these children, i know how difficult it must have been for you to share those fames. but thank you very much for sharing those names with us. and we will come back to you a